Locals admit they need to study up on Sept. 9 election

LYNN – Jeff Wieczorek has no idea when the primary election for state and congressional candidates is scheduled and he is not alone: A sampling of local voters indicates they are – with a few exceptions – unaware polling places will be open on Sept. 9.Wieczorek, a Marblehead resident, blames his election day ignorance on a declining interest in politics.”I gave up on it – it’s hopeless,” said the man who holds a master’s degree in political science.Brooks Glahn knows enough about the Sept. 9 primary to be able to name some of the candidates running for governor, but the Marblehead attorney confessed his interests in electoral politics run more toward elections to fill town offices.”I’m not spending much time thinking about the primary but I probably will spend more time as the general election gets closer,” Glahn said.Suzanne Coleman isn’t waiting until the final election in November to stoke her political passions. She is closely following the Democratic primary for the 6th Congressional District and said she hopes Attorney General Martha Coakley will win the Democratic primary for governor and face Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker in November.Coleman said Coakley and Baker posted poor performances in past election bids and she is following the governor’s race with an eye on candidates’ campaigning styles.”I’m interested to see how they change things up to do better,” she said.She also knows what she wants from a candidate.”I’m interested in people’s ideas, their morals and that they accomplish something,” she said.Neal Collins of Swampscott knows the primary election is coming up but he confessed to not knowing many candidates’ names.”I don’t know who is running. As it comes a little closer, I’ll look harder at the candidates,” he said.The primary features Democrat and Republican primaries for governor and a crowded Democratic primary to determine which party member will face Republican Richard Tisei in the November final election for the 6th district seat.Three Democrats are also competing for the state legislative seat representing West Lynn and Nahant. The winner will have effectively won the seat because no Republican is on the final ballot.Other statewide offices also feature primary contests – a fact not lost on Collins who said he pays more attention to politics in national election years. Raquel Morales said moving from Woburn to Lynn recently has made her pay attention to local politics but she admits she has some studying to do when it comes to the primary.”I don’t know the date but I know it’s in September,” she said.Coleman said there are enough important races to be decided on primary day for voters to start studying the candidates and the issues they are debating.”I hope people pay attention and vote,” she said.Wieczorek is not sure he can make that commitment but he knows the primary will harvest a crop of political winners and losers.”I’ll probably look the morning after to see what happened,” he said.Thor Jourgensen may be reached at [email protected].